Half-Life

The first installment of one of the classic 3D shooters

You probably remember the end of the 90s' with nostalgia. Especially 1998, the year in which France beat Brazil in the World Cup Final, Bear Grylls became the youngest British climber to crown Mount Everest and J.K. Rowling published Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Those weren't the only special things to happen that year. It was also the year in which Half-Life was published. This first-person shooter took the helm from the previous generation of 3D shooters led by titles of the likes of Quake, Heretic, Hexen or Duke Nukem 3D.

Like in Doom: aliens crossing an interdimensional portal

Valve Corporation surprised us with their first title, introducing us to an action-packed video game with extremely realistic graphics and frenetic action. We were immersed in a story featuring Gordon Freeman, a scientist with a certain resemblance to Breaking Bad's Walter White, who is surprised by a flaw that opens up an interdimensional portal during an experiment.

This leads to alien creatures invading the laboratory where he works, which means that he's going to have to deal with the problem. In other words, he'll have to beat the hell out of them. For such purpose, he can make use of a wide range of weapons and occasional teammates who can help him out on certain occasions.

One of the best games back then.

Main features

• First-person shooter action game.
• Action set in a story that includes 19 episodes.
• Wide range of weapons: knives, lightweight, mid-range, heavyweight, and explosives.
• Different characters other than Gordon Freeman to play with.
• Challenges posed as puzzles and brainteasers.
• Controls combine keyboard and mouse.
• Support for multiplayer mode on local networks (LAN) or online through the game's servers. The multiplayer game mode is a deathmatch, the forefather of Battle Royale games, although we can also play in teams.

Regarding the requirements of Half-Life, we have to admit that dozens of shooters for Windows have overcome its features (that's normal, it's from the 90s') but if you're looking for an entertaining game that works without problems, this one is a great candidate. Anyhow, to get it running, you only need a Pentium at 166 MHz and 32 MB of RAM. Even your smartphone could run it. Furthermore, there are plenty of sequels, official expansions, and mods to extend its universe.

Finally, we have to point out that the game hasn't been released only for PC. Other platforms of the likes of Dreamcast, PS2, Mac, and more recently (2013), Linux via SteamOS also have their own versions of this great action game.

Requirements and additional information:

• Minimum operating system requirements: Windows XP.